DODIK: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS CANNOT BE "GOVERNMENT", FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY LIES WITH ENTITIES

PALE, MARCH 16 /SRNA/ - The president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats /SNSD/ Milorad Dodik stated that according to the Constitution of BiH, fiscal responsibility lies with the entities and that the Council of Ministers of BiH cannot in any way function as a "government of BiH," nor make decisions regarding excise duties.

Commenting on today's session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, where the agenda included the Proposal for Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties in BiH, Dodik told reporters that under the guise of a deceptive proposal, a narrative about excise duties is being pushed with the aim of centralizing another function at the level of BiH. "Fiscal responsibility belongs to the entities according to the Constitution. They have now come up with the idea that the Council of Ministers can make decisions about excise duties, which is a seizure of authority from Republika Srpska and centralization under the guise of populism," Dodik said. He added that he does not understand the opposition in Republika Srpska, which he claims has "grabbed this as its political program," emphasizing that their political program should be Republika Srpska, not BiH. In this case, Dodik said, an agreement could only be reached if the governments of Republika Srpska and the FBiH give explicit consent to the Council of Ministers. "However, they will not do that because they want decisions to be made without the governments of the entities," Dodik added. He also pointed out that fuel prices in Republika Srpska are still lower than in other countries in the region. Speaking at a student conference marking 30 years since the exodus of Sarajevo Serbs at the University of Istočno Sarajevo Faculty of Economics in Pale, Dodik welcomed the high level of patriotism of the current student generation and their dedication to the development and prosperity of Republika Srpska. According to him, Republika Srpska would be far more successful if there were no obstructions from political Sarajevo and the Bosniak political elite, who he claims unsuccessfully attempt to prevent the faster economic development of Srpska. "Wherever you go, whatever you try, nothing can be done. Therefore, it is only a matter of time when we will free ourselves from BiH, so that we can achieve much faster economic progress. We have had some progress so far," Dodik concluded. About 500 students from the University of Istočno Sarajevo attended the conference in Pale.